Nature and Me: A Guide to the Joys and Excitements of the Outdoors

Gr 3-5–This unique book helps young readers deal with their emotions and uncertainties by introducing them to the beauties and subtleties of nature. While children might know that being close to nature is good for them, they may not know how to best learn from the great outdoors. This book, with its vibrant illustrations and its intriguing prompts, provides a bridge of understanding. Each spread follows a similar pattern. First, it introduces something found in nature—an animal, a sign of weather conditions, or a geographic feature—and then offers information about it. Second, it provides a colorful illustration for readers to study. Third, it suggests how readers can learn from observing nature and how these observations can improve their lives. Each spread makes clear suggestions and summarizes everything with a short statement written in bold. For example, when reading about an ant colony, readers learn the ways ants work together. An illustration shows a colony accomplishing a variety of tasks while the text asks, “Why are ants so appealing? Why do we like watching them and finding out about them?” It suggests that the answer is because ants are cooperating: “It’s good to cooperate.”